We fight and we fuss
We fuss and we fight
We all draw straws
In the choosing of sides

We fuss and we fight
We fight and we fuss
We say that they're wrong
They say that about us

We fight and we fuss
We fuss and we fight
Can both sides be wrong
In thinking they're right

We fuss and we fight
We fight and we fuss
Can we stop long enough
To see what's happened to us

You look at me
And think me a fool
But couldn't somebody
Be fooling you
The taste is bitter sweet
This bitter pill of truth

We all might want to think again

You put your trust
All in one side
But goodness gracious alive
Seems all sides are lying
With spoon in hand
Barely digging in our findings

We all might want to think again

If you're listening
To the talking heads
Today's talking heads
Do not make much sense
In this game of keepers
Closed eyed losers wept

We all might want to think again

Which ever way you lean
To the left or right
Or somewhere in between
What's right is hard to find
When dealing with emotions
Wrong most times sounds right

We all might want to think again

If I asked
would you tell me
Could this not be
the strangest dream

I saw a man
in this city park
Standing alone
where we now are

He held a banner
in his hand
Love was all
the banner read

A crowd of people
passed him by
Some of them spat
while others cried

He stood silent,
he stood still
Justified
by Love's free will

Knowing full well
men are taught to hate
Bend the rules
and the soul will break

He stood his ground,
days on end
Not once gave out
not once gave in

He knew a few
might hear him out
That's all it takes
to turn the world around

I ask you now
what do you think
Is this or is this not
the strangest dream

I'm counting on this notion
Friends forever, friends for life
Though we all may make our separate ways
We're still together in heart and mind

While there may be distance between us
Counted out in miles and years
There's still that tug of insistence
In who we are and what we were

Where friendship goes much deeper
Than the surface it's cast on
A fickle child at times but we need her
Holding tight the strongest bond

Because friendship is forever
To have and hold to hold and keep
Fading out the 12th of never
Once it's here it never leaves

While I'm counting on this notion
In a friendship frame of mind
I'm thankful for the ones I've had
And still have in this life

Is today really today
Or is it the day before
Throw it all in a blender
And turn that sucker on

Add in different ingredients
It all tastes the same
Whether or not it makes any sense
Day after day after day

Is today tomorrow
Or did I miss it yesterday
And from what day did it borrow
Since every day is the same

With or without the lid on
It still comes out a mess
Which you can save for another day
To blend into it

As every day makes its way
Into another one
Slice the pie, cut the cake
Until your day is done

I'm caught up and being kept
Inside poetry's spider web
One strand of rhyme at a time
Cobwebs the corners of my mind

Drawing deep from my life's blood
It can't seem to get enough
In this web of poetry
The spider keeps an eye on me

Through the struggles and the strife
Tangled in its web of rhyme
The more I fight the less I'm free
As poetry has a hold on me

When I fall down
I bounce right back up
Lose what I've found
More than enough

I pay life no mind
When it kicks me wrong right
Day after day guess you could say
This is a Ricochet Life

With what I am given
I never give out
From where I have been
What I have found

Is a true attitude
Of do it or die
Not a piece of cake but I bake anyway
Cause this is a Ricochet Life

These days of hard knocks
I don't let ring my bell
Every toss is not caught
But it still turns out well

There's a tab to be paid
Cause this ain't a free ride
As I make my way through the daily of days
Of this Ricochet Life

Whether black, red, yellow, white
Or somewhere in-between
We all get butthurt over time
If you know what I mean

We have lost the art of humor
In this abstract gallery
If you need a hint, get over it
That's about as blunt as I can be

Why don't we find the funny
In funny anymore
When did we begin to turn in
To little whinny boys and girls

I have a suggestion for this coming into question
Don't spin your ******* in a twirl
Get a grip, get over it
It's not the end of the world

Try your best hee, hee, haw, haw
Adding in a smile
You soon enough will see it helps
When you can laugh at yourself

Can we all try and do better
With a bit less bark and bite
Do our best to get over it
And learn to laugh at this crazy life

When the morning grabs the sun
And refuses to let it go
When the frayed knot comes undone
On what you should and shouldn't know
When you show up every time
And every time's the same
We'll continue in our dance
On the head of the pin

When you take your glasses off
And all you hold dear becomes clear
When the first of Winters frost
Is the last of Summers cheer
When you come to the exact moment
Where you could do it all again
We'll continue in our dance
On the head of the pin

If the order of disaster
Is the order of the day
If your color's alabaster
With tiny flecks of gray
If the roar you can't ignore
Is coming from the lion's den
We'll continue in our dance
On the head of the pin

I've got a
fistful
of marbles
in my mouth
should I
A:
swallow
or
B:
spit them out
cause
when
I'm near you
all I hear
are muffled sounds
with this
fistful
of marbles
in my mouth

He travels the ocean in the midst of hoping
That one day he'd sail onto the truth
With so many questions that leave him guessing
In what is the point and what is the use

He keeps moving forward in perpetual motion
From enlightened sunrise to enlightened sunset
With the why and the where clearly the notion
That he hasn't quite given up on just yet

He sails the sea's silent from island to island
With a compass that broke long ago
At night counts the stars like he used to the bars
In a previous life, he no longer knows

Looking for answers to all of the questions
Everyday holding out hope
As he makes his way through waves of life lessons
When he reaches the end then he will know

But in the meantime, he'll raise his sails high
Pull up the anchor that tends to allude
As he makes his way in search of the bay
That one day will lead to the truth

I've got this grand idea
Though it ain't nothing new
We've all easily heard
But have hardly followed through

So I'll say it once again
In case some of you have missed the clue
Why don't I just do me
And you stick with doing you

It's hard enough keeping up
With what is going down
In keeping tabs on what we have
If our heads are spinning round

In this and that direction
Wondering what the other is up to
That's why I say I'll just do me
And you stay true to you

Going back to the simple fact
Of peace and harmony
Which at our bequest will work out best
If we leave each other be

For whom this bell loudly tolls
We'll see that it rings true
If I just keep on doing me
And you keep on doing you

Find humor
when told of the tumor

Smile
when the answer is cancer

Laugh
at the heart attack

Kick back
in the face of death

Yawn
when you're not given that long

Whistle a tune
when they tell you it's June

Have no remorse
as the disease runs its course

Bow your head
when there's nothing left

Could you?

There are cracks that
She falls in between
And with that said
There she goes again

Falling in between
All the cracks unseen

No one sees so
No one really knows
Doesn't even matter
To those who matter most

In what crack she stumps her toes
When and where she comes and goes

As she falls into
Another crack along the way
Same results
The only change is a different day

As she once again is falling in
To the cracks the world has made

You're hoping for something
That'll bring you around
Better than the nothing
You've already found

Not sure you know this
But I've news for you
Life is a meadow
You go running through

Of the world and its promises
You've had your fill
Don't believe a word that they say
And you never will

You may taste the sweet freedom
And still be deeply in debt
But life is a gamble
So you best place your bets

A cause for relief
Always comes into light
And you need to let
Your little one shine

Here's a little something
A secret that's kept
Life is a pool
We all do laps in

You brain storm when you can
To be let off the hook
With the line still attached
You'd toss it back if you could

You may not believe
But take a look at the facts
Life is a fast train
Rolling on rusty tracks

It's mind over matter
But what really matters to you
Is not what you've done
But what you're going through

The reason being
You're most times out to lunch
Life is a menu
We order off of

It's not a piece of cake
But where's your piece of the pie
The truth in the knowledge
Is hidden deep in the lie

Though you try your best
There still is regret
Life is a fastball
Try and catch it if you can

There's a Whopper of a sun
Peeking over a field of fries
Trying its best to ketchup
With this finger licking life

As a bubbly soda stream
Runs through the middle of it all
Kids in donut boats
Paddle by with Pixie straws

Some might take a dip with chips
Be it ridges, be it curls
It's easy to see that this
Is a spinning Junk Food world

With flying pizza pies
Pepperoni U.F.O.'s
Ice cream slip and slides
Where sprinkles slow the flow

Tuesday's roll around
Tacos come to town
Holy moly guacamole
With fist in face we shove them down

Every woman, child, and man
Every boy, adult, and girl
Are here to help to lend a hand
In this spinning junk food world

Another year, another Fathers day
Another year since mine has passed
Still holding tightly to the memories
Of all the good times that we had

He did with me the best he could
Teaching me what he thought right
Never turn your face my son to evil ways
When it comes to justice always stand and fight

Always respect your mother
Loving her the best you can
And when you see those that have no hope
Lift them up with the kind word of friend

Valuable lessons that my father gave
I can't begin to tell
He is with my other Father now
In Heaven where all is well

If I could be just half the man
That gave all of himself
Then my goal in life will be fulfilled
To be the best Dad and nothing else

i sometimes wonder...

at the rhythm of the rain
the fever just beneath the skin

the shimmer of the morning dew
the feeling i get with you

where are unused teardrops stored
why are the lonely so often ignored

do flowers feel love or pain
when they're cut and given away

and also...

why love makes the moon so bright
where the day goes when it's chased by the night

why some people feel the need
to sit and watch their lover bleed

if the world stopped how many would want to get off
if the day is over is it forever lost

would you want to bring it back again
but only the parts that you could win

i wonder...

do babies know they fill a need
a mothers heart gladly receives

how two hearts meld into one
when you find the right one to love

could a fish swim the seven seas
how long must you wait for a bended knee

can all in life that you take to the heart
change the outcome of who you are

and...

why i miss love the way i do
why are thoughts unsaid most often true

why does the heart feel a need for change
when there's the slightest bit of rain

could love be given in return
if that love was never earned

if there was no mercy, love, or grace
what would take its place

a few things that i wonder about
i only wish i could figure out

as i sit and wonder...

The further in you get
The less you seem to fit
The more that you hate it
Promises unkept

The struggle and the strife
The things that you once liked
Are now the things that bite
Teeth marks to remind

Of the place that you are now
The depth in the fall down
The dreams that have left town
All of them Southbound

The hopelessness in hope
The thought of should have known
The condition of this road
Hand with thumb out all alone

A world without a care
You do but you don't dare
Over time and over years
You find that you are here

Where one time you felt you fit
Now puzzle pieces of regret
Missing spaces left unsaid
In the promises unkept

I am secretly enamoured
And this girl has no idea
Her all-round beauty is the hammer
That's nailed my heart to love inside my chest

Secretly enamoured
Whoever would have guessed

That being secretly enamoured
Would take up so much time
And that her nail and hammer
Would also work its way inside my mind

Secretly enamoured
With this girl that's in my life

Can't wait to see
what the day awaits me
An adventure with every step
Like the Titanic out at sea
or a swarm of angry killer bees
There isn't a catastrophe I haven't yet met

Like a ****** in the villages eyes
about to be sacrificed
Kicked into the volcano, that's all she wrote
Here to save the crowd
as the next disease wrings me out
Who came up with this plan and don't I get a vote

Why is life ******* some
yet leaves others alone
Who is out there slicing this pie
No one can really say
as we're all busy stuffing face
Could I have gotten someone else's slice and they've gotten mine

Where I'm living someone else's tragedies
as they're living my life with ease
Switched with the hard times give and hard times get
In this going for broke
Easy come easy go
Life that keeps playing play for keeps

We started out with pastel
Soft colors at their best
Over time we drew the lines
Then filled in all the rest

The further in that we went
Brighter were the shades
Water coloring away the nights
While waking to acrylic days

Much too soon we drew the blues
When envying the greens
Angered at the reds we'd choose
Brushed with jealousy

Till the colors that we saved
Over time did fade
Helping tell what we knew full well
We should have layered more the paint

Pulling out the markers that
We had yet to mark us with
And colored on each other gone
With the little we had left

when it comes to indecision
i can't quite decide
am i for it or against it
or just along for the ride

if i don't move do i lose it
or is it the other way around
with all these choices in the choosing
raising all these doubts

yes, no, maybe
can i get back with you on that
all of the above if it'll save me
from dealing with the facts

cause when it comes to indecision
i can't quite decide
am i for it or against it
and is it worth the fight

over here he's hammered
over there he's ******
couldn't they think of anything better
than a mind-numbing bar all night long

that one there looks plastered
up against the wall
which ain't no laughing matter
especially if he doesn't make it home

this one is three sheets to the wind
in the air-conditioned breeze
there's one hugging the porcelain
dirt upon his knees

one is staggering by the door
is he heading in or heading out
wait a minute, he just hit the floor
going to be a while before we find that out

another day at the bar
another night of lost memories
where they don't care where they
as they order up one more drink

Pick me up
Put me down
Walk away
Turn around

Tell me yes
While saying no
Hold me tight
Let me go

Please just make up your mind

Toss me out
Catch me back
Taking more
Giving less

What you give
What you take
Say you love
Show you hate

Please just make up your mind

I sometimes feel like...

A worn out stitch on a winter sweater
The last thought when you think you know better
The tear in the page of a glamour magazine

The far off sound of inclement weather
The nagging thought when you hear the word never
The discarded peal of a tangerine

I sometimes feel like...

The postage stamp on a Valentine letter
The fluttered path of a floating feather
What comes to mind when you hear indeed

The mighty swing of a grand slam batter
The super glue to pottery shattered
The first morning note that a bird sings

I sometimes feel like...

The moment when nothing is sadder
The other side of all the laughter
The skeleton in the closet you keep

The lost time when things really mattered
The last rung on a broken ladder
Someone that's never seen

I sometimes feel like...

A seven course meal that has been catered
A superhero the moment he saves her
The do in the doing

The now rather than later
The plus sign on a calculator
The remembrance of a dream

Most of what we ain't got
Is mostly what we need
And with that thought like it or not
I wish they'd leave me be

I've had enough to the point of giving up
Since this all went down
Common sense ain't common since
Common sense left town

It's like a day spent in the rain
Without galoshes on
And the puddles you make along the way
Follow you back home

With no thought at all in the slip and fall
And on your way down
You think common sense ain't common since
Common Sense threw in the towel

You thought it would sound real good
But there's an echo in your head
Was it in what you thought
Or was it in what they said

We're in too deep, wait for the beep
Try not to lose count
Common sense ain't common since
All of this went down

funny how we keep
things that we don't need
as if we are afraid
of tossing things away
it's like they have ahold
of our very souls
things that we don't need
that we seem to keep

There's talk on the street
Somethings happened to me
I don't look the same
As I used to be

I've got the same name
I've got the same face
But something about me
Has definitely changed

They try to figure it out
There's something about
On the tip of their tongue
There is no doubt

As they scratch their heads
Wondering just what it is
Either something has come
Or something has left

As they wonder what's up
It's starting to bug
They can't take anymore
They've had enough

I just sit here and smile
As they try and figure it out
It's as plain as the day
Let them squirm for awhile

Cause what it is that I've changed
Is my eyebrows I shaved
I now change my expression
With mascara paint

I can now look surprised
As my eyebrows I rise
3 to 4 inches
Above my eyes

Or I can bring them down
Into a uni-brow
Make me look angry
Give me a scowl

I lower the other
While lifting it's brother
Which raises a question
One way or another

There's so much you can do
When your eyebrows you lose
If your afraid to participate
Start with one and not two

But I must warn you
That if you do
There's only one expression you'll have
And that is one of confused

So as they keep on guessing
With insistent insisting
I keep doing my best
To change my expression

I'm stepping off this highway
That so many today are on
The shape it's in has about done me in
I need a higher road

One without so many potholes
And blind curves along the way
One where I can take my time
And say what I want to say

Without some passerby
Going into a rage
They need to stop over what others have got
And stay in their own lanes

With no heed or no warning
They keep changing up the signs
It's so hard to know which way to go
Which only adds to life's hefty fines

So I'm stepping off this highway
That leads to whoever knows
Cause the shape it's in has about done me in
And I'm in need of a higher road

With so many questions
Of who, what, where and when
But never any answers
That make any sense

What were you just saying
Where did the time go
And for those who want to know when
Then I'll tell you so

When Hell freezes over
Or when pigs fly
Who thinks dogs have souls
And where do they go when they die

What is the reason
For wish I may wish I might
And where can I find the best seasoning
For the sprinkling of lies

When someone kicks the bucket
Do you toss the baby and the bathwater both out
Or at least save the kitchen sink
For the next go round

And who was it that let
The cat out of the bag
Now that that has been said
Are there any secrets left

What seems only once in a blue moon
When it does come along
Who's left out of the loop
In the chasing of rainbows

When monkies finally escape
From out your screaming rear
Only then will you know
The who, what, when, and where

This road I have traveled on
From that to this very point
Knew just what to want
Knew where it was going

To me at times was never clear
As I wobbled through the atmosphere
From over there to over here
Through the laughter and the tears

Through the losses and the gains
In life's pleasure and its pain
From early time to those of late
Did not hesitate

Moved itself right along
Like a top 40 Pop song
When it didn't sing it hummed
This melody of love

Before the time I even knew
Or even had a single clue
This road knew just what to do
And ran me into you

Where we hit and miss
Is anybody's guess
Trying our very best
In search of happiness

It's a scratch and sniff
In all we hope to get
A turn around in circles
Ending with leg lift

It's a growl and a bark
It's a stake we claim
What we've done to this world
Is a dog gone shame

It's a willful wag
At the tail end
A well soaked training mat
Shared with all our friends

It's a cold wet nose
A best in show
Digging of holes
Burying of bones

It's a toss and catch
A retrieving game
What we've done to this world
Is a dog gone shame

You were the girl who guarded herself
So as not to trip like everyone else
Through some of the corners that you took
You should have stood and had a look

As life can leave little traps
Takes what you have and doesn't give back
But only a little at a time
So what you lose you don't seem to mind

Before too long you find you're stuck
In a rut like the rest of us
I hate to break it to you ***
But welcome to the club

It's a struggle, it's a constant fight
It's a battle between what's wrong and right
You've always thought of yourself as strong
Somewhere along the way you got it wrong

Because now you do what you don't want to
And what you don't do bothers you
Because you were the girl who guarded herself
So as not to trip like everyone else

When all is said and all is done
You swore you'd never be what you've become
I hate to break it to you ***
But welcome to the club

Have you ever had if you think about it
A major problem with numbers
They divide and subtract whenever they can
As they carry over

They multiple while playing it shy
To equal out the field
The problem I have of you think about it
With numbers is all too real

There's a time for love a time for hate
A time to apologize
A time for war a time for peace
To open wide our eyes

A time that is worth saving
A time to toss away
Just make sure the toss away
Stays down in the grave

There's a time to look within
A time to look without
A time for preservation
Beyond a shadow of a doubt

A time for understanding
A time to right the wrongs
A time to join together
Blending into one

There's a time to search the meaning of
A time that is well spent
A time to let it go
And not care where it went

A time to get a grip
That some things you can't change
What other people do
Sometimes along the way

There's a time for feeling up
A time for feeling down
A time you feel you've had enough
But go it one more round

There's a time you come to realize
There always is a time
In all you say in all you do
In all the time you find

BLACK & BLUE
are the colors that
you turn to
like the others that
he once knew
when he met you
and let loose

where you find
he is not so
nice a guy
truth or dare
it's a lie
every time
he'll apologize

promising
he will not
do it again
till he raises his
angry hand
low on promise
high on demand

still, you stay
with no plans to
run away
but will you
survive the day
his fits of rage
who's to say

where he leaves you
with no clue
every time he
backhands you
will you even
make it through
the next round of
pity you
BLACK & BLUE

I'm here to frame this story
In a certain frame of mind
Adding bits of glory
As I fabricate the lies

Tell a tale about myself
On this train of thought
Before I take a wrong turn
And end up completely lost

With the middle name "Adventure"
What else is there to do
Besides sky dive or Rodeo bull ride
On any given afternoon

When I'm not busy swimming
Waters infested by crocodile
You may want to have a seat
As this may take awhile

I make sure to save my fingers
For saving other lives
With me being a top-notch brain surgeon
...does that come as a surprise

In between my junkets
Out to Hollywood
Always playing the lead man
Being the only one who could

Yes, I lead quite the life
In this my frame of mind
Adding bits of glory
As I fabricate the lies

Whether Black, White, Yellow, Red
Or somewhere in-between
We all get butthurt over time
As both sides cause a scene

We have lost the art of humor
In this abstract gallery
If you need a hint, get over it
That's about as blunt as I can be

Why don't we find the funny
In funny anymore
Who turned us into whinny
Little boys and girls

I have a suggestion
Don't spin your ******* in a twirl
Get a grip, get over it
It's not the end of the world

Try your best He, He, Haw, Haw
Adding in a smile
You will soon see that it helps
When you can laugh at yourself

Can we all try and do better?
Not be so quick to bite?
Do our best to get over it?
And learn to laugh at life?

Huh, can we...can we, huh?

Life can lift you up
At the same time drag you down
Have you drink from its sippy cup
Then pour you all out on the ground

Life can be real rough
While smooth along the edge
Cook you up way past well done
Then deep fry what is left

Life can spin you left
Till you're not sure what is right
Like a genie in a bottle
Rub you wrong then ***** the lid on tight

Life can be a Sunday walk
All the way up to the end
Or a fairy tale where the frog
Never gets kissed into a prince

Life can be a breeze
That blows with ease or a hurricane
Choose any one of these
Life has your number and knows your name

I'm going back to basics
Tossing technology out the door
They say life is what you make it
I'm going to make it a natural world

The stars at night will be my candlelight
The open meadow my unmade bed
The Moonbeam will hold my calmest dreams
As I rest my weary head

When the morning peaks I'll have the mountain stream
To provide me with cool drink
And the berries from a nearby tree
Will be what I daily eat  

I won't have any more deadlines
To stress my life upon
The only time that I will keep
Will be the season of the Sun

I will move when in the mood
Will be my whole new attitude
And sitting back relaxing
Will be the hardest thing I do

I'll carry on conversations
With the animals of the wild
I'm sure they'll make a lot more sense
Than those, I've left behind

If you think you'd like to join me
There's no need to pack a bag
I guarantee you'll be happy
With the little that you have

Hard as a sudden fall
Cold as a winters wind
Things you don't know
Still can hurt you, my friend

Holding on tight
Until the truth bites
Don't know which is worse
The road or the ride

With focus kept
More on the past
Where we can't accept
What lies ahead

Take it all in stride
The slip with the slide
Kicking up gravel
The road and the ride

Windows rolled down
To beat the heat
The past in the mirror
Is smaller than it appears to be

You can pick up the speed
On new horizons to find
But you'll never be free
Of the road and the ride

Fact is fiction, fiction fact
Not sure we can get it back
Who's to listen, who's to laugh

Crazy has come up to bat

What's mine is mine, what's yours is yours
Unless we change our minds of course
Are we bored with the soup du jour

Crazy's knocking at the door

From reality have we lost touch
Queasy feeling in our guts
How many of us are out to lunch

Crazy is crazily twisting knobs

Not sure if we should flip or fly
Spinning left, twisting right
Trudging through these troubled times

Crazy lately barks and bites

Two to Tango, who to trust
Barely room now on the bus
When blowing bubbles who needs gum

Crazy has snuck up on us

Call it fate or a mistake
But I'm always running late
Whether it's in to morning work
Or out to nightly dinner dates

Never have I been early
At anything I do
Except to say that I'll be late
But that you already knew

It's been that way from the beginning
Starting with my nine and a half month birth
Inside of the womb, slept till way past noon
For all that I was worth

Still feel I'm in my teenage years
Late at growing up
But I must say the way adults act these days
Don't think I'm missing much

I may even be late for my own funeral
But would that be a crime
I ask who out there wouldn't care
If they missed their day of dying

So call it fate or a mistake
One or another, either way
All I can say is that to this day
I'm always running late

Years ago
I fell into this hole
Face down in a puddle of poetry

Splashed around like a kid
Till I learned how to swim
Footloose and fancy-free

Where every now and then
I would swim the deep end
Holding my breath as I go

Following along with the current
Knowing full well that it's worth it
When caught up in a rhyming flow

Yet there are those days
When all I do is wade
Only as far as up to my knees

Not wanting to get
My mind overly wet
In this puddle of poetry

Who would have guessed
Or have known this no less
Years ago when I fell in this hole

That this poetry puddle I'm in
Would teach me how to swim
Beyond anything I've ever known